Crossed Eye/Hand Laterality and Left‐Eyedness Predict a Positive 24‐Month Outcome in Alcohol‐Dependent Patients

Mazza

Weinland

et al. 2022

IJMS

Self Cite

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a major global mental health challenge. Knowledge concerning mechanisms underlying AUD and predictive biomarkers of AUD progression and relapse are insufficient. Recently, addiction research is focusing attention on the oxytocin system. However, to our knowledge, blood concentrations of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) have not yet been studied in AUD. Here, in sex-separated analyses, OXTR serum concentrations were compared between early-abstinent in-patients with AUD (113 men, 87 women) and age-matched healthy controls (133 men, 107 women). The OXTR concentrations were correlated with sex hormone and oxytocin concentrations and alcohol-related hospital readmissions during a 24-month follow-up. In male patients with AUD, higher OXTR concentrations were found in those with an alcohol-related readmission than in those without (143%; p = 0.004), and they correlated with more prospective readmissions (ρ = 0.249; p = 0.008) and fewer days to the first readmission (ρ = −0.268; p = 0.004). In men and women, OXTR concentrations did not significantly differ between patients with AUD and controls. We found lower OXTR concentrations in smokers versus non-smokers in female patients (61%; p = 0.001) and controls (51%; p = 0.003). In controls, OXTR concentrations correlated with dihydrotestosterone (men, ρ = 0.189; p = 0.030) and testosterone concentrations (women, ρ = 0.281; p = 0.003). This clinical study provides novel insight into the role of serum OXTR levels in AUD. Future studies are encouraged to add to the available knowledge and investigate clinical implications of OXTR blood concentrations.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated Oxytocin Receptor Blood Concentrations Predict Higher Risk for, More, and Earlier 24-Month Hospital Readmissions after In-Patient Detoxification in Males with Alcohol Use Disorder

Mazza

Weinland

et al. 2022

IJMS

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“…This investigation is part of the Neurobiology of Alcoholism (NOAH) study, for which we recruited a total of 200 male and female inpatients who had been admitted for withdrawal treatment at the psychiatric departments of the Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and the Klinikum am Europakanal Erlangen in Germany (Braun et al, 2018; Gegenhuber et al, 2018; Lenz et al, 2017, 2019; Mühle et al, 2018, 2019; Weinland et al, 2017, 2019a, 2019b, 2020). They were diagnosed with AUD (the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and alcohol dependence (tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (World Health Organization, 1992).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex‐Dependent Alcohol Instrumentalization Goals in Non‐Addicted Alcohol Consumers versus Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder: Longitudinal Change and Outcome Prediction

Müller

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

Kornhuber

et al. 2021

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Background Alcohol can be instrumentalized to achieve goals that without the drug would either not be achievable or would be so only with considerably more workload. While an understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol instrumentalization is emerging, little information is available concerning instrumentalization goals in controlled consumers and how these goals change during the development of an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Methods We surveyed instrumentalization goals in 103 male and 78 female inpatients with AUD (before / after onset of the disorder) and compared them with the goals of 124 male and 96 female age‐matched non‐addicted controls. We also investigated whether instrumentalization goals predict 24‐month alcohol‐related hospital readmissions in the patients using a false discovery rate (FDR) approach. Results Separately for both sexes, the most frequently (>25%) self‐reported alcohol instrumentalization goals in patients were “stress coping,” “craving for alcohol,” and “reduction of anxiety and / or depressive mood” and in controls “facilitation of social interaction.” Relative to controls, and in a sex‐dependent manner, patients with AUD reported the goals “facilitation of social interaction” and “search for a partner” significantly less frequently and “reduction of anxiety and / or depressive mood,” “stress coping,” “improvement of sexual activity,” “improvement of concentration,” “euphoria,” and “craving for alcohol” more frequently. During the transition to addiction, many of the instrumentalization goals changed significantly, some in a sex‐dependent manner. In female AUD patients, a goal of “euphoria” nominally predicted a lower risk of alcohol‐related readmission, although not significantly when FDR corrected. Conclusions We identified cross‐sectional and intra‐individual differences in instrumentalization goals that support the assumption that the onset of an AUD coincides with a shift in instrumentalization goals from prosocial instrumentalization toward the self‐management of aversive mental states.

“…Moreover, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) was measured in serum samples of both groups (Central Laboratory of the University Hospital Erlangen, Germany, DIN EN ISO 15189 accredited). For previously published articles of the NOAH study, see [2,5,29,33,[49][50][51][52].…”

Section: Study Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globally, 2.3 million male deaths compared to 0.7 million female deaths have been attributed to alcohol [1]. Alcohol dependence often runs a chronic course, with higher 12-month alcohol-related readmission rates following withdrawal in males (57.5%) compared to females (41.4%) [2]. Men are also known to have higher striatal dopamine release after oral alcohol intake than women [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basic Human Body Dimensions Relate to Alcohol Dependence and Predict Hospital Readmission

Lenz

Köllner

et al. 2019

JCM

Self Cite

Alcohol dependence is a severe mental illness and there is a need for more effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. Translational research suggests that intrauterine sex hormone exposure modulates the risk and course of alcohol dependence during adulthood. During development, sex hormones permanently shape sexually dimorphic body dimensions. Thus, these dimensions may provide insight into sex hormone organization. Here, we compared body measurements (absolute, relative to, and residualized on height) between 200 alcohol-dependent in-patients and 240 age-matched healthy control subjects and investigated how these measurements associate with the patients’ prospective 12- and 24-month outcome. The results show that alcohol dependence is related to lower absolute, relative, and residualized body measurements for height and weight, head circumference, bitragion head arc, lip-chin distance, hip, thigh, and calf circumference, and foot length and breadth. In male alcohol-dependent in-patients, higher risk, shorter latency, and more alcohol-related readmissions were predicted by higher absolute, relative, and residualized thigh and calf circumferences. The second-to-fourth finger length ratio, a putative proxy for prenatal sex hormone organization, was not convincingly correlated with the body dimensions, suggesting that the results represent pubertal (or later) effects. The study’s findings have implications for further research. The body measurements’ high accessibility may facilitate the future transition into clinical settings.